Rifle Report: Arma 3 Enters Playable Alpha On March 5th

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From next week you’ll be able to play Arma 3. Yes, the headline gave it away, didn’t it? Pre-ordering a “Arma 3 Alpha, Arma 3 Digital Deluxe, Or Arma 3 Supporter editions” (all available soon) will soon give immediate access to Arma 3 on Steam, or at least to an alpha test of a limited build of the game that will run until the full beta test some time in the second quarter of the year. Bohemia explain: “Featured in the Arma 3 Alpha are four showcase missions (Infantry, Vehicles, SCUBA and Helicopter), a limited subset of weapons and vehicles, two multiplayer scenarios, the powerful scenario editor and modding support. The 20 km² island of Stratis, which is positioned right off the coast from Arma 3’s main destination ‘Altis’ (270 km²), will form the backdrop of the Arma 3 Alpha.” There’s much more to come, as the scope of the test expands.

Hands on with Arma 3’s alpha, as well as an interview with the Bohemians, coming up later this week.

That’s why I really really hope they’ll make sure the scripting/mod tools are much more easier-to-use, stable and frequently patched.

Imagine: making a flying BattleBus, able to take-off and land easily, refill its ammo, allow people to switch between seats, etc… done in 2-3 hours.

Now imagine two buses welded together for a twin fuselage design, or a central cabin with 2 fixed cannons and the side fuselage getting crewed MGs, some kind of powered-up P-38 Lightning – that would be glorious !

Some more info for you guys that I have, as the official website seems to be down right now (too many viewers):

5th March you can buy 1 of three packages: Alpha package, Digital Deluxe package, Supporter package.

Apha package is €25 and gives you access to Alpha, Beta, and the full game.
Digital Deluxe is €40 and additionally gives you downloads of the soundtrack, maps, and a guide.
Supporter is €70 and also gives you ARMA1. ARMA1:QG, ARMA2, ARMA2:A, ARMA2:BAF, ARMA2:PMC and any non-standalone DLC that “may or may not” come out for ARMA3.

Price of the game will increase as development goes on. Final price for ARMA3 will be €45.

So does the Alpha package get you into this particular alpha? Asking because the article specifies a “supporter edition” of unknown description.

Regardless, 40% off the final price and alpha/beta access is pretty tempting for a preorder. Certainly ages ahead of the free gun + TF2 hatz nonsense that’s industry standard nowadays, though maybe this is more along the lines of a founder’s package.

Also, there’s an “Alpha Lite” edition, working from the 14 March to the 18 June (= 3 months and 4 days), which is like a demo:
– the full island
– all weapons/vehicles
– “4 singleplayer showcases” (mini-campaigns or missions ?)
– a (limited) scenario editor
(!) No multiplayer, no modding

I am going to get the Alpha edition – it is a reasonable price and I am content to support them even if it launches broken :D

My hundreds of hours in Arma2 suggest that I am likely to enjoy this

The Digital Deluxe Editions and Supporter Editions are either overpriced (relative to the Alpha edition) or don’t quite seem worth it. I love game soundtracks, but Arma2’s wasn’t exactly stellar and the rest is a bit meh.

The pricing differences between digital deluxe and supporter alpha editions are in line with console collector’s editions (i.e. if a base game is $59.99, expect a collector’s edition to be $79.99 or $99.99, though in this case it’s more like $32.99, $49.99 and $91.99 for them).

I’m personally glad they’re going for a slightly sci-fi setting this time. Less money being diverted from game development to licensing official military hardware terminology and names, and thus less money actually going to arms manufacturers.

” It’s also a big opportunity to get the game in the hands of our passionate community, which enables them to start work on their own creations, tailored to the fourth generation of the Real Virtuality engine”

So you probably wont even have to wait for month after release. I would say we would probably be looking at a full range of modern armies by release, not to mention the porting of armies from previous ArmA games if the upgrading process doesnt prove to be too difficult.

Only one made and dismantled.
There were pictures on some forums like Military photos and Russian live journals that someone did take the Kamaz 4911 chassis – ( yes the Rally Kamaz – in the civilian version -there is videos of it driving a road at 160km/h so this thing should be fast) and place that body on it because of the looks) and that was an another prototype. It could be a new development for the Russian army/Internal Troops/ FSB, but I haven’t seen anything conclusive.

Actually almost every military equipments in ArmA 3 are already existing or in a state of prototype so you can spend hours looking up on Wikipedia. And check out that thread All is Well posted above. Have fun ;)

Yes, if it’s anything like ARMA2, it will be released on March the 6th and the dev’s saying ‘Its finished, honest!’ – at least until you get to half way through the campaign and the mission isn’t even playable.

I’m pretty sure they’re skylights. I’d imagine tanks and APCs get very dark when they’re closed up, so some smart architect has clearly found a way to reduce this problem. It’s also possible that we’re looking at it wrong and they’re more like the viewing windows on the floor of some tour boats – it’s so that people above them can look down into it.

In two minds about this. Firstly, it’s ARMA3 and apart from the other ARMA games there’s nothing else like it.

But I know that it’s going to be just as buggy as every other ARMA release which makes me laugh at the idea of a public beta. BIS never get some things right and every release has been a massive screw up, I don’t know if I want to give them money this time around.